Scott Wagner
Scott R. Wagner is an American businessman and politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He represented the 28th district in the Pennsylvania State Senate. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Pennsylvania in the 2018 election, being defeated by incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf.
Early life and education
Wagner is from Spring Garden Township in York County, Pennsylvania. He was raised on a farm. Wagner graduated from Dallastown Area High School in 1973. He then spent one semester at Williamsport Area Community College, but left school to pursue business ventures.Career
Wagner bought his first plot of land for $8,500 at age 19, selling it two years later for a $4,000 profit. He then had several successful business ventures including a laundromat and ski shop, as well as buying a number of rental buildings. He also worked as a bail bondsman.In 1985, Wagner co-founded the waste management company York Waste Disposal, a company which made $40 million a year, and which he sold in 1997. He then started Penn Waste in 2000, a company with 400 employees in 2018. The company has received over 30 violations and citations from the Department of Environmental Protection over sixteen years, which Wagner claims have been unfair and overreaching. He also owns three other companies, including a trucking company called KBS Trucking.
Pennsylvania Senate (2014–2018)
Wagner ran in a March 2014 special election for the 28th district in the Pennsylvania Senate. When Ron Miller, an incumbent member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, declared his intentions to run for the seat, Wagner charged the Republican Party with cronyism. Wagner withdrew his name from consideration, but remained a candidate for the regularly scheduled primary election in May 2014. The York County Republicans selected Miller as their nominee, and Wagner chose to run in the special election as a write-in candidate against Miller and Linda Small, the Democratic Party nominee. Wagner ran on a fiscal conservative platform. He ran as an outsider, accusing party leaders of rigging the system against him, and became the first write-in candidate to win election to the Pennsylvania State Senate in history. In the election, Wagner received 10,595 votes, Miller received 5,920 votes and Small received 5,704 votes. Turnout was less than 14% of all registered voters in the district. He was sworn in on April 2, 2014.In office, Wagner has moved the General Assembly in a more fiscally conservative direction. He led efforts to replace Republican Dominic F. Pileggi as Senate majority leader and used his own money in campaigns to help Republicans win seats in various parts of the state. He resigned in June 2018 after winning the Republican nomination for the gubernatorial election.
2018 gubernatorial campaign
Wagner ran as a Republican candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in the 2018 election and became the Republican nominee after winning the primary on May 15, 2018.Wagner contracted Red Mavericks, a media, strategy and fundraising firm led by Harrisburg political operative and lobbyist Ray Zaborney. He previously decried the use of political consultants. Wagner resigned from the State Senate on June 4, 2018, to focus on his gubernatorial campaign.
As of September 26, 2018, Wagner's campaign had spent $3.4 million over the prior three months. His campaign has $1.8 million in the bank.
On October 2, 2018, Wagner and Democratic candidate Tom Wolf had a gubernatorial debate with TV host Alex Trebek as the moderator.
Wagner originally asked to hold debates in all 67 counties in Pennsylvania. He called Wolf a "chicken" for not having more debates.
The Wawa convenience chain's political action committee gave $12,500 to Wagner's gubernatorial campaign.
On October 12, 2018 Wagner threatened in a gubernatorial campaign video to stomp on the face of the incumbent governor, Tom Wolf, while wearing golf cleats. “Gov. Wolf, let me tell you between now and Nov 6, you better put a catcher's mask on your face because I'm going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes. Because I'm going to win for the state of Pennsylvania, and we are throwing you out of office because, you know what, I'm sick and tired of your negative ads." In a later video Wagner said of his stomping threat, "I may have chosen a poor metaphor. I may have had poor choice of words. I shouldn't have said what I said."
Political views
A lifelong member of the Republican Party, Wagner has donated more than $3.2 million to state and local campaigns since 2007.Anti-Semitism
In 2017, Wagner denounced billionaire businessman George Soros as a "Hungarian Jew" who has a "hatred for America." Wagner rejected calls from Jewish and Christian clergy asking him to apologize for the remarks, and the Democratic Party in the state denounced his comments as anti-Semitic.On September 12, 2018, Wagner approvingly cited an anonymous anecdote circulating on white-supremacist websites that complained that "America is "becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo and Hasid is part of a special group with special rights."
Crime
Wagner supports partial reform of the bail system, stating that he supports "clear sentencing and bail guidelines" so that punishments are in proportion to crimes. He has not endorsed the elimination of cash bail, such as happened in New Jersey and California.Death penalty
During Wagner's 2018 gubernatorial campaign, he pledged to reverse incumbent governor Tom Wolf's moratorium on the death penalty. Wolf had halted Pennsylvania's death penalty pending the results of a study to determine the effects of racism on how the death penalty had been applied in Pennsylvania. The study, which began in 2011, concluded in June 2018 and revealed discrepancies in the application of the death penalty based on a defendant's race, income, and possible mental illnesses, as well as critiquing the cost of the death penalty and how it exceeded the cost of life sentences. During a campaign stop in November 2018, months after the study's results were revealed to have shown bias and arbitrariness in Pennsylvania's death penalty, Wagner doubled down on his support of capital punishment, citing a recent synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in which 11 people died, and a Pennsylvania death row inmate who had murdered a police officer, as reasons for his support. Wagner also expressed support for the death penalty for school shooters.Donald Trump
Wagner is a supporter of President Donald Trump. Wagner received the endorsement of President Donald Trump for his gubernatorial campaign on August 3, 2018.Trump held a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 10, 2018, featuring Scott Wagner and the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Lou Barletta.
Education
Wagner supports state universities providing trade school classes. He proposed having every state-run school have a vocational program, citing a "200,000 to 400,000 skilled labor position crisis.”On the issue of bullying, Wagner told elementary school students in October 2018 that for bullying, he favored one warning and then expulsion, in a “zero tolerance” policy, as he put it. He mentioned his own childhood and being picked on. During the campaign, both Wolf and Wagner accused each other of wanting to cut school funding.
Wagner favors uniforms for all students. He favors rules that prohibit using a cell phone in class. He also spoke out against standardized testing. He pledged to increase education funding by over $1 billion each year if elected governor.
Energy
In 2014, Wagner said he wanted to establish a process that would replace coal plants with renewable energy.He supports natural gas drilling on state lands. In 2017, the state government expected around $80 million in royalties from drilling in state forests. Wagner said, "There’s a huge difference between an active environmentalist and an environmental activist. I love the outdoors, I grew up around the outdoors, I love fishing–I am in favor of drilling on state lands.” Wagner believes that the state has too many redundant restrictions on the oil and gas industry that need to be "studied and pared down."
Environment
Wagner erroneously asserted in March 2017 that climate change is the result of Earth moving closer to the Sun and from greater body heat emanating from a greater number of humans: "The Earth moves closer to the Sun every year. We have more people. You know, humans have warm bodies so is heat coming off? We're just going through a lot of change, but I think we are, as a society, doing the best we can." PolitiFact rated the claims as "false" and added "that movement closer to the sun, scientists say, wouldn't have an impact on climate change... Also, there's no evidence to suggest human body heat is at all related to global climate change." The scientific consensus is that humans are primarily causing climate change through the production of carbon dioxide which exacerbates the Earth's greenhouse effect.On July 18, 2018, student Rose Strauss challenged Scott Wagner's controversial argument that climate change is being caused by human body heat. She pressed him, asking if his belief is the result of the money he has received from the fossil fuel industry. Wagner called Strauss "young and naive" and stated that Pennsylvanians are trying to elect a governor, not a scientist.
Healthcare
During his primary campaign, Wagner said that he would roll back the Affordable Care Act's expansion of Medicaid. In 2015, Wolf expanded Medicaid by 700,000 people.Labor unions
Wagner has been critical of labor unions, and has stated that he supports right to work legislation. In 2014, he compared public sector unions to Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin, later apologizing for the "unfortunate analogy."Prior to the 2018 gubernatorial election, Wagner declined to release his tax returns, suggesting that labor unions will use it to try to organize workers at his company. Wagner's company Penn Waste, which reported $75 million in revenue in 2017, is non-unionized.
LGBT rights
Wagner supports same-sex marriage rights and has said that, as governor of Pennsylvania, he would veto any bill that restricts marriage rights for same-sex couples.Opioid epidemic
To combat the opioid epidemic, Wagner supports holding a one-day summit with approximately 700 people such as prosecutors, coroners, law enforcement, and county leaders. Wagner said he would hold the opioid summit on November 27 if he wins election, which would be before he would be sworn-in as governor. He said the crisis is too important to wait for the swearing-in ceremony. With such a summit's associated action plan, Wagner has pledged he would be "bringing the hammer down on things that they say we need to move on."Wagner criticized Governor Wolf for not doing enough to fix the problem, mentioning that Wolf has taken campaign contributions from drug companies.
Poverty and urban assistance
During his campaign, Wagner proposed starting a fund of money to give loans to people, especially those in poor communities, to start new businesses. He has been critical of the state's public assistance programs. He said he would "overhaul any program that is not providing a pathway to financial independence or adequately supporting our most needy." Wagner supports using the private sector for solutions to poverty.Reproductive care
In December 2017, Wagner voted in favor of a bill in the state legislature that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Governor Wolf vetoed the bill, and has committed to vetoing similar bills in the future. Wagner has made no such commitment. Wagner later came out in support of a U.S. House bill that would ban abortion as soon as the fetus has a heartbeat.Wagner has also cosponsored bills that would prevent the use of state funds for non-abortion services, such as birth control and cancer screening, at Planned Parenthood.
Second Amendment
On October 2, 2018, the National Rifle Association endorsed Wagner in his bid for governor. The NRA had given him an A rating in the past.State-owned liquor industry
Wagner supports leasing the state's wholesale liquor industry. He also supports privatizing the sale of alcohol. He wants to use the $500 million in projected savings for education programs.Taxes and budget
Wagner supports eliminating property taxes statewide. He made a pledge to get rid of school taxes on everyone's home. As part of his fiscal plan during his campaign, Wagner proposed using what is known as "zero-based budgeting." This is a system "in which every expense must be justified and approved for a new spending period," according to the Pennsylvania's Tribune-Democrat.Wagner plans to cut the Keystone Opportunity Zone and Keystone Innovation Zone tax incentive programs. Pennsylvania spends $15 million each year in tax credits through these programs, and overall spends $700 million each year on economic incentive programs. Wagner supports getting rid of tax incentive programs that "do not have a positive economic impact" on the state. He also wants to lower the tax rate on employers so that they can use the money to hire more people.